N.J. Development Plan Causes Rumbling in Town

By Anthony Brooks

Published August 3, 2005 at 12:00 AM EDT

Josephine and Carmen Vendetti's house has been condemned to make way for new condos in the coastal New Jersey town of Long Branch. The couple has rejected offers to have first dibs on the new condos.

In one of many development plans that got a boost from the recent Supreme Court decision on eminent domain, Long Branch, N.J., plans to condemn dozens of modest bungalows along the shore so a developer can put up condos. The mayor think this would be great for tax revenue. Longtime residents -- and some lawmakers -- wonder about the limits of "public interest."

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Anthony Brooks

Anthony Brooks has more than twenty five years of experience in public radio, working as a producer, editor, reporter, and most recently, as a fill-in host for NPR. For years, Brooks has worked as a Boston-based reporter for NPR, covering regional issues across New England, including politics, criminal justice, and urban affairs. He has also covered higher education for NPR, and during the 2000 presidential election he was one of NPR's lead political reporters, covering the campaign from the early primaries through the Supreme Court's Bush V. Gore ruling. His reports have been heard for many years on NPR's Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition.

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